A small Java program that can be embedded
in an HTML page. Applets differ from full-fledged Java applications in that they are not allowed to access certain resources on the
local computer, such as files and serial devices (modems, printers, etc.), and are prohibited from communicating with most other computers across a network. The current rule is that an applet can only make an Internet connection to the computer from which the applet was sent.

American Standard Code for Information Interchange The standard method for encoding characters as 8-bit sequences of binary numbers,
allowing a maximum of 256 characters. Text files are customarily called "ASCII files".

asymmetrical

Providing differing bandwidth in different directions. 56k modems are asymmetrical: they offer a maximum speed of 56k for downloading, but only 28.8k or 33.6k for uploading.

ATA

Advanced Technology Attachment -
a type of hard drive

ATM

Asycronous Transfer Mode: Ultra high speed line for use with speeds up to 400,000,000 baud.

In common usage the baud rate of a modem is how
many bits it can send or receive per second. Technically, baud is the
number of times per second that the carrier signal shifts value - for
example a 1200 bit-per-second modem actually runs at 300 baud, but
it moves 4 bits per baud (4 x 300 = 1200 bits per second).

This is a name given to a crash of a Windows NT server or workstation.
often called BSoD.

Bookmark

Web browsers give you an option of adding a URL to a
"HotList" or by marking it with a "Bookmark".By doing this, you can store the linking information (the URL) to
any Web pages you plan to revisit. That way, if you decide to go back to a Web site, its URL is already catalogued and at your
fingertips for easy reference. (Spry Mosaic uses "HotLists", Netscape Navigator uses "Bookmarks" and
Microsoft Internet Explorer uses "Favorites").

International Consultative Committee on Telecommunications and
Telegraphy - The CCITT acronym comes from the French Commite'
Consultatif International de Telegraphique et Telephonique. An
international standards body. Known as the ITU-T since March 1,
1993

CDSL

CONSUMER DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE - a 1 Megabaud version of HDSL that uses
only one wire pair. and can work at reduced speed beyond the normal 5km
limit of most DSL technologies.

CERN

The European Laboratory for Particle Physics. The originators of the HTTP and HTML concepts.

CERT

Computer Emergency Response Team A clearinghouse of information about network security.

Common Gateway Interface --
A set of rules that describe how a WebServer communicates with another piece of software on the same machine, and how the other piece of software (the CGI program) talks to the web server. Any piece of software can be a CGI program if it handles input and output according to the CGI standard.
Usually a CGI program is a small program that takes data from a web server and does something with it, like putting the content of a form into an e-mail message, or turning the data into a database query.
You can often see that a CGI program is being used by seeing cgi-bin in a URL, but not always.

Competative Local Exchange Carrier -
telephone companies that compete with ILEC such as
Bell Canada

Client

Any program you use to
access a server; a computer application that requests support
from another program (often called a server), which
usually runs on a remote computer. For example, Netscape
is a client that accesses programs (and web pages) from servers on the Internet.

CO

Central Office. (Bell Switching Station)

COM port

Communications Port. - A plug-in socket in back of the computer for hooking
up devices such as modems.

Communications software

Also referred to as telecommunications software, this software allows
one computer to connect with other computers across telephone
lines (via modems) and share information. Communications software
transmits instructions to your modem that directs it to make
connections, transfer files, and carry out other procedures.

Connect time The period

during which a user is signed on, usually for a fee, to an online
service, bulletin board system, host computer, or Internet
service provider.

The most common meaning of Cookie on the Internet refers to a
piece of information sent by a Web Server to a Web Browser
that the Browser software is expected to save and to send back to the
Server whenever the browser makes additional requests from the Server.
Depending on the type of Cookie used, and the Browsers settings,
the Browser may accept, warn or not accept the Cookie, and may save the
Cookie for a set period of time.
Cookies can contain information such as login or registration information,
user preferences, or data on if You have viewed this page before.
When a Server receives a request from a Browser that includes a Cookie,
the Server is able to use the information stored in the Cookie. For
example, the Server might customize what is sent back to the user, or keep
a log of particular users requests.
Cookies are usually set to expire after a predetermined amount of time
and are usually saved in memory until the Browser software is closed down,
at which time they may be saved to disk if their expire time has not been
reached. Cookies do not read your hard drive and send your life
story to the CIA, but they can be used to gather more information about
a user than would be possible without them.

Cyclic Redundancy Check - An
error-checking procedure for data transmission. The sending
device performs a complex calculation, generating a number based
upon the data being transmitted, and sends that number to the
receiving device. The receiving device performs the same
calculation after transmission. If the results match, the
transmission succeeds. If the numbers don't match, it means the
message was received in an altered state, and the data may be
incorrect.

CSS

Cascading Style Sheets -
A relatively new feature added to HTML that gives both Web Designers and
users more control over how pages are displayed. The term 'cascading'
refers to the fact that multiple style sheets can be applied to the same
web page, or that one sheet can be applied to many pages. CSS was
developed by the W3C

As opposed to a dedicated or leased line
; a type of computer linkage using regular telephone
lines, generally referring to the kind of connection one makes
when using a terminal emulator and a regular modem.

The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain Names always
have 2 or more parts, separated by dots. The part on the left is the most
specific, and the part on the right is the most general. A given machine
may have more than one Domain Name For example, the domain names:
albedo.netmail.albedo.netjuliet.albedo.net
can all refer to the same machine, and each domain name can even refer
to more than one machine.

Download

To receive a file sent from another computer via modem

DS1

A high-speed line capable of delivering 1.54 Mbps (1,540K) in
both directions, and divided into 24 data-bearing channels. Commonly called a T1.

DS1C

A high-speed line capable of delivering 3.15 Mbps (3,150K) in both directions.

DS2

A high-speed line capable of delivering 6.31 Mbps (6,310K) in both directions.

DS3

A high-speed line capable of delivering 44.7 Mbps (44,700K) in both directions.
Commonly called a T3

DSVD

Digital Simultaneous Voice and Data.

Dumb Terminal

A terminal that doesn't contain an internal microprocessor. It responds to simple
control codes, and usually displays only characters and numerals.

A common method of networking computers in a LAN.
Ethernet will handle 10Mbaud and can be used with almost any kind of computer.

External Viewer

a program used by Netscape or Internet Explorer cannot
handle a particular file type internally. For example, .ps or postscript
files. When You retrieve a .ps file it will pass the file to a postscript
viewer and the viewer will display the file.

An obsolete Internet software tool for locating people on other Internet sites.
Finger is also sometimes used to give access to non-personal information,
but the most common use is to see if a person has an account at a
particular Internet site. Many sites dis-allow incoming Finger requests.

The technical meaning is a hardware or software set-up that translates between two dissimilar protocols, for example Prodigy has a gateway that translates between its internal, proprietary e-mail format and Internet e-mail format. Another, sloppier meaning of gateway is to describe any mechanism for providing access to another system, e.g. AOL might be called a gateway to the Internet.

High-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line. A digital line that uses the existing twisted pair copper telephone network to achieve
speeds of up to 2.048 mbps up to 3.6 km. For more information visit Pairgain.

History List

A list of Document Titles and URLs Web Browsers keeps in memory that
represents the visited URLs during a given session, In Netscape you can set the
time the history list is kept.

Home Page

A top level document of a organization or a document that a user
frequently visits. By default Netscape points to the home.netscape.com,
however you can define anyone's home page as your home page.

Any computer on a network that is a repository for services
available to other computers on the network. It is quite common to have
one host machine provide several services, such as WWW and USENET.

Hotlist

a user defined list of preferred URLs to a given World Wide Web document

HTML

HyperText Markup Language. - The rules that govern the way we create documents so that can be read by a WWW Browser. Most documents that are displayed by Mosaic are HTML documents. These documents are characterized by the .html or .htm file extension. For example: homepage.html or homepage.htm

HyperText Transport Protocol - The protocol for moving hypertext files across the Internet. Requires a HTTP client program on one end, and an HTTP server program on the other end. HTTP is the most common protocol used in the World Wide Web (WWW).

Hyperlink

A link in a given document to information within another document. These links are usually represented by highlighted words or images. The user also has the option to underline these hyperlinks.

Hypermedia

richly formatted documents containing a variety of information types, such as textual, image, movie, and audio. These information types are easily found through hyperlinks.

Instant Messag(ing)(er)(es) -
Messages sent instantly from computer to computer using a private
chat room. Some common programs used to send IM's include AIM (AOL),
YIM (Yahoo), MSM Messenger, and ICQ.

The vast collection of inter-connected networks that all use the TCP/IP protocols and that evolved from the ARPANET of the late 60's and early 70's. The Internet now (July 1995) connects roughly 75,000 independent networks into a vast global internet.

Any time you connect 2 or more networks together, you have an internet

An international computer network of networks that connect government, academic and business institutions.

A private network inside a company or organization that uses the same kinds of software that you would find on the public Internet, but that is only for internal use.
Note that an Intranet may not actually be an internet -- it may simply be a local network.

Internet Protocol Number -
Sometimes called a dotted quad, or IP Address. A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots, e.g.
206.51.22.1
Every machine that is on the Internet has a unique IP number - if a machine does not have an IP number, it is not really on the Internet. Most machines also have one or more Domain Names that are easier for people to remember.

Internet Relay Chat -
A multi-user live chat facility. There are a number of major IRC servers around the world which are linked to each other. Anyone can create a channel and anything that anyone types in a given channel is seen by all others in the channel. Private channels can (and are) created for multi-person conference calls.

Integrated Services Digital Network -
A digital phone service capable of speeds from 56K to 128 K. Provides two data
channels, each with its own phone number, making simultaneous voice and data possible.

Java is a network-oriented programming language invented by Sun Microsystems that is specifically designed for writing programs that can be safely downloaded to your computer through the Internet and immediately run without fear of viruses or other harm to your computer or files. Using small Java programs (called "Applets"), Web pages can include functions such as animations, calculators, and other fancy tricks.

JPEG

Joint Photographic Expert Group, a method of storing an image in digital format

The necessary network software from Apple Computer that allows Macintoshes to interact with the other computers via TCP/IP

Mailing list

A (usually automated) system that allows people to send e-mail to one address, whereupon their message is copied and sent to
all of the other subscribers to the maillist. In this way, people who have many different kinds of e-mail access can participate in discussions together.

malware

malicious software -
software designed specifically to damage or disrupt a system, such as a
virus.

Multiple Internet Mail Extensions, a method of identifying files such that the first packet of information received by a client, contains information about the type of file the server has sent. For example text, audio, movie, postscript, word document, etc....

The first WWW browser that was available for the
Macintosh, Windows, and UNIX all with the same interface.
Mosaic really started the popularity of the Web.
The source-code to Mosaic has been licensed by several companies
and there are several other pieces of software as good or better
than Mosaic, most notably, Netscape.

A WWW Browser and the name of a company. The Netscape (tm)
browser was originally based on the Mosaic program developed
at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA).
Netscape has grown in features rapidly and is the most popular web browser.

Networked Information Center -
Any office that handles information for a network.
The most famous of these on the Internet is the InterNIC,
which is where new top level domain names an name servers are registered.

Network News Transport Protocol -
The protocol used by client and server software to
carry USENET postings back and forth over a
TCP/IP network. If you are using any
of the more common software such as Netscape,
Internet Explorer, etc. to participate in Newsgroups
then you are using an NNTP connection.

Point of Presence - A local dial in point for an Internet Service Provider.

Post Office Protocol (pop3) refers to the way e-mail software such as Eudora
gets mail from a mail server. When you obtain a SLIP, PPP, or shell
account you almost always get a POP account with it, and it is this
POP account that you tell your e-mail software to use to get your mail.

A special-purpose computer (or software package) that handles
the connection between 2 or more Networks. Routers spend
all their time looking at the destination addresses of the
packets passing through them and deciding which route to send
them on.

A chunk of information (often stored as a text file) that is used
by the SSL protocol to establish a secure connection.
Security Certificates contain information about who it belongs to, who
it was issued by, a unique serial number or other unique identification,
valid dates, and an encrypted fingerprint that can be used to verify
the contents of the certificate. In order for an SSL connection to
be created both sides must have a valid Security Certificate.

Server

a computer that serves information and software to the Internet community.

SGML

Standard Generalized Markup Language, is an International standard, a encoding scheme for creating textual information. HTML is a subset of SGML

Shareware

Software that one may try out for free before deciding on purchasing it.

Shell A user

interface to the Internet using only character-based,
command-line access to a Unix system.

Simple Mail Transport Protocol -
The main protocol used to send electronic mail on the Internet.
SMTP consists of a set of rules for how a program sending mail and
a program receiving mail should interact.

Unsolicited Junk E-Mail. 90% of SPAM on the Internet comes from Cyber Promotions.

An inappropriate attempt to use a mailing list,
or USENET or other networked communications facility as if
it was a broadcast medium (which it is not) by sending the same
message to a large number of people who didn't ask for it.

The term comes from a famous Monty Python skit which featured the
word spam repeated over and over.

Structured Query Language -
A specialized programming language for sending queries to databases.
Most industrial-strength and many smaller database applications can
be addressed using SQL. Each specific application will have its own
version of SQL implementing features unique to that application,
but all SQL-capable databases support a common subset of SQL.

SSH

Secure Shell -
a program to log onto another computer over a network, to execute commands
on a remote machine, and move files from one machine to another.

A leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 1,544,000 bits-per-second. At maximum theoretical capacity, a T-1 line could move a megabyte in less than 10 seconds. That is still not fast enough for full-screen, full-motion video, for which you need at least 10,000,000 bits-per-second. T-1 is the fastest speed commonly used to connect networks to the Internet.

A device that allows you to send commands to a computer somewhere
else. At a minimum, this usually means a keyboard and a display
screen and some simple circuitry. Usually you will use terminal
software in a personal computer - the software pretends to be
(emulates) a physical terminal and allows you to type commands
to a computer somewhere else.

A special purpose computer that has places to plug in many
modems on one side, and a connection to a LAN or
host machine on the other side. Thus the terminal server does the
work of answering the calls and passes the connections on to the
appropriate node. Most terminal servers can provide PPP
services if connected to the Internet.

A computer operating system (the basic software running on a computer, underneath things like word processors and spreadsheets). UNIX is designed to be used by many people at the same time (it is multi-user) and has TCP/IP built-in. It is the most common operating system for servers on the Internet.

URL

Uniform Resource Locator, the address to a source of information. The URL contains four distinct parts, the protocol type, the machine name, the directory path and the file name. For example:http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/Mosaic/NCSAMosaicHome.html

A world-wide system of discussion groups, with comments passed
among hundreds of thousands of machines. Not all USENET machines
are on the Internet, maybe half. USENET is completely
decentralized, with over 30,000 discussion areas, called
Newsgroups

Very Easy Rodent Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized Archives -
Developed at the University of Nevada, Veronica is a constantly updated
database of the names of almost every menu item on thousands of
Gopher servers. The Veronica database can be
searched from most major gopher menus.

A program or piece of code that is loaded onto your computer, usually
without your knowledge, and runs against your wishes. Some can also replicate
themselves, using your computer to spread to people in your address book.
Their function depends on the programmer that made them.

VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol -
Hardware and software that enables people to use the Internet for telephone
calls by sending voice data using IP rather than traditional telephone lines.
An advantage of VoIP is that one does not pay extra for the call, much as
one does not pay for sending emails over the Internet.

VPN

Virtual Private Network -
a network that is constructed using public wires to connect nodes.
There are a number of systems that enable you to create networks using
the Internet as the medium for transporting data.

a distributed HyperText-based information system conceived at CERN to provide its user community an easy way to access global information

Worm

(1) a program that replicates itself over a computer network and normally
performs malicious actions, such as using the computer's resources or shutting
the system down. A type of virus.

(2) write once, read many - technology that allows you to
write data onto a disk only once. After that the data is permanent, but
can be read any number of times. The disks can only be read by the same
type of drive that wrote them. Usually used for archiving.

A popular file-transfer protocol developed in 1977 by Ward Christiansen. The protocol works by sending blocks of
data in 128-byte blocks from PC to PC. Included with this data is an error-detection system called a checksum. When the data is
received, the error detection system ensures that the entire message reached its destination. If not, the receiving computer
sends a request for retransmission of the data. Compare with Ymodem, Zmodem

A file-transfer protocol similar to the enhanced 1K version of Xmodem. Ymodem also allows multiple file transmission,
performs cyclical redundancy checks ( CRC), and can reduce
the file transfer size to compensate for a poor connection. Compare to Xmodem, Zmodem